


Poison

by spacebutterfly



Category: Inazuma Eleven GO, Inazuma Eleven GO Galaxy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-27
Updated: 2015-01-27
Packaged: 2018-03-09 05:58:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3238892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacebutterfly/pseuds/spacebutterfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Banda takes Kusaka back to his hut to treat his poisoned shoulder. Seems like he knows what he's doing, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Poison

**Author's Note:**

> Science™

Kusaka winced, resisting the urge to scratch his arm. The poison had started off just being itchy, but now it was starting to sting as well, like something was prickling under his skin. The image in his mind's eye of his arm burning from the inside out wasn't making him feel much better, either.

He tried to focus on his surroundings instead. Banda's hut had a surprisingly familiar feel to it – it was quite bare, but whatever Kusaka was sitting on seemed to be more or less like what you'd call a bed, and Banda's casual clothes were folded up at the end of it in such a perfectly normal way that you'd almost think you were on Earth. Even as the cricket-like being rooted through boxes of curious looking objects and materials, what he pulled out in the end just looked like ordinary fabric.

“I'll use these to patch you up when we're finished,” said Banda, holding up the small roll of fabric. “Do you know what they are?”

“Uh, yeah,” said Kusaka sheepishly, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief that it didn't seem that Banda was going to do anything wildly complicated. “Those are bandages. We use those on Earth too.”

“Oh, that's good,” said the bug, sounding mildly impressed. He shortly turned his attention back to the box, pulling out a small wooden jar and unscrewing the lid. Nodding to himself, he closed it again.

“What's that?”

“Just some antidote,” said Banda, smiling at Kusaka a little too brightly. “Do you mind if we do this outside?”

“Um,” said Kusaka, as Banda strolled back out the door with his chosen equipment in hand. He followed with an emerging feeling of nervousness. Why did they have to do it outside? Was it something they couldn't do inside? Would it be too...messy?

Kusaka gripped his wounded shoulder instinctively.

“Oh, try not to touch it,” said Banda nonchalantly. “It'll hurt more if you irritate it. Just sit down here and we can get this over with quickly.”

“Right,” Kusaka swallowed, sitting down on the conveniently-placed stump that Banda was motioning towards.

“Just relax,” he said gently, slowly closing the gap between them. His manner just made Kusaka feel even more anxious.

“Don't you need the...the...thing? In the jar?” said Kusaka quickly.

“Not yet,” Banda murmured absent-mindedly. He gripped Kusaka's injured arm with both hands, tightly enough to cause a splitting pain right in the center of the wound. “Try not to move,” Banda said with an air of concentration, as Kusaka cursed. “It'll just take a moment.”

Kusaka didn't have time to even imagine just what was only going to take a moment. A split-second later and his shoulder was a ball of searing pain – it felt like it had just had a knife shoved in it.

Banda's had sunk his jaws into his shoulder.

Kusaka screamed out in agony, unable to even form his panic-stricken thoughts into words. Despite everything, he didn't move his body an inch, just like Banda had told him – mainly because he was terrified that his arm would be torn open even more if he pulled away. And Banda wasn't letting go – through squinted eyes Kusaka saw him hunched over, and he could swear he wasn’t just sinking his jaws deep into his shoulder but also pulling at it? He was going to get fucking eaten alive by some oversized bug alien thing! Yet he couldn’t move, he didn’t dare move, just kept his eyes so tightly shut that he was seeing stars, gripped his leg tightly with his free hand because it was the closest thing, and listened to the horrifying sounds that escaped his own mouth.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the tension around his arm uncoiled, but Kusaka kept his gaze firmly planted in his lap. He was desperately trying to resist the feeling that he was either going to float away or pass out. “Good,” Banda was murmuring, and the first thought that Kusaka was able to articulate was that this did not seem like his idea of ‘good’.

_He stopped...my arm is...oh shit, it’s bleeding...he’s touching it and it fucking stings..._

“Sorry about that,” the boy was continuing, and Kusaka could feel him pressing damp fabric to his wound - or maybe it was just wet from the blood. He was sure that it wouldn’t do any good either way, he was sure that his arm must be bleeding itself out. “I didn’t realise it would be that painful for you...maybe you should have taken an anaesthetic...”

“Could have mentioned it,” Kusaka hissed out. His senses were coming back to him, but he also strongly felt the desire to throw up.

“We don’t normally use them,” said Banda conversationally. He squeezed the bandages tight around Kusaka’s shoulder, causing him to spit and curse again. It _stung_ more than anything, plus he couldn't shake the feeling that he was going to look back at his shoulder and see a huge bite mark in it, like some kind of messed-up cartoon. “It might feel weird for a while. I prepared the bandages specially, so the bleeding will be much less. Still, I didn’t realise how different it would be for a human...” Kusaka dared to look up, eyeing Banda’s thoughtful expression. He was way too calm about all this. “Well, anyway, I’ve taken the poison out, so you’ll be fine for tomorrow.”

Kusaka felt strong disbelief at that statement, but it felt like there was no arguing with it. “Right. Thanks.” He peeked at his shoulder - it was thoroughly bandaged up, and his arm was kind of bloody, but...it was still completely intact. “...Thanks.”

“No problem,” said Banda, eyes twinkling. “Well, maybe I should have given you a little bit of a warning first...but what’s important is that you’re better.”

Kusaka gingerly moved his arm, wincing as his shoulder seared in protest. Was he really better? But it wasn’t as bad as it could be, he supposed. “...Was that seriously the only way to get rid of it?”

“Oh, no,” said Banda. “Of course not. It could be too risky in some cases, like if the poison victim is a child or a small animal. But it’s the quickest and most effective way, and I thought you’d probably be able to take it...I’ve built up an immunity to those plants, so I always help out others when I can.” He smiled with all the graciousness of a benefactor.

“Well, isn’t that great.” Trying not to think about how sharp Banda’s teeth looked as he talked, he looked down at the ground instead - wherein he saw splatters of poison mixed with blood, and felt his stomach lurch. Well, at least Banda had been thorough...

“I’ll get some water to wash your arm with,” said the bug, smiling widely. “I’ll be back in a little bit. Try to relax.” Kusaka nodded. Wouldn’t it be nice to just relax...

Banda disappeared inside the hut, coming back out with a small woven pot. Then he rushed off into the trees.

Kusaka was still reeling from what had just happened, trying his best to keep the most graphic thoughts at bay - which wasn’t exactly an easy task considering the images he was trying to repress had happened literally a few minutes ago. But he wasn’t poisoned any more. All things considered, Banda had taken good care of him. In Banda’s eyes, he’d only been doing what was necessary to make Kusaka better again. He was kind...in his own way.

Kusaka took another look at his shoulder, winced, then shook his head and looked away. No matter how difficult it was, focusing on what was ahead was the important thing, just as it had been for their whole journey so far.

And what was ahead was...

“Kusaka-kun!” came Banda’s chirpy voice, returning to the clearing with the water, which he set down at Kusaka’s side. “I’ll get a cloth.”

“Banda,” said Kusaka suddenly. “Can I ask you something?”

The boy paused, blinking at him. “Sure, what is it?” Kusaka grit his teeth. It’s not the kind of thing you just ask someone, but at the same time, there was no way he could rest easy without doing it.

“...Is your life span only one month, too?”

There was hardly even time for the question to hang in the air before Banda laughed. “What, it’s about that?”

Kusaka stiffened. He wished he hadn’t asked, he wished he hadn’t asked, he didn’t want to hear the answer any more. That laid-back tone of Banda’s made it all worse, somehow.

But even if he wanted to run from what he was afraid of, he couldn’t do that any more. Even if he felt anxious and sick to his stomach, he couldn’t stop what was coming. He knew that, of course he knew that, but...

“Yeah. My life will end tomorrow.”


End file.
